Endangered Insects of Illinois

Springtails

• The Madonna Cave springtail, a tiny cave-dwelling insect found at Madonna Cave in Monroe County, Illinois was first studied and named in 2003. The Illinois Species Protection Board added it to the endangered species list because of concerns that the springtail may be sensitive to water pollution caused by human development near the cave.

Stoneflies

• Specially adapted to living in rivers and streams, stoneflies have thin, long bodies and gills. Illinois lists two stoneflies on the state endangered species list: the robust springfly and the central forestfly.

Dragonflies

• The Hine's emerald dragonfly, named for its shiny green color, was added to the National Endangered Species List in 1995. It still inhabits the calcium-rich wetlands of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Missouri, but has disappeared from Alabama, Indiana and Ohio. In recent years, water pollution and the practice of draining wetlands has caused a reduction in dragonfly habitat in the United States.

Leafhoppers

• Tiny insects with powerful legs situated under the body near the head, leafhoppers feed on plant juices by puncturing leaves and sucking with specialized mouth parts. Illinois lists two species of leafhoppers as endangered: Athysanella incongrua and Paraphlepsius lupalus. No common name is associated with either of these species.

Butterflies and Moths

• Endangered butterfly and moth species in Illinois include the Karner blue butterfly, Arogos skipper, swamp metalmark, Ottoe skipper, hoary elfin and Eryngium stem borer. The small Karner blue butterfly, which also appears on the National Endangered Species List, once lived in pine barrens and savannas across most of the Midwest, but now only small populations remain in the north from New York to Minnesota. Its larvae feed on wild lupines, which have become rare as cultivated lupines interbreed with and replace wild species. The larvae of many butterflies and moths thrive on only one host plant species, so when the host plant decreases in population, so do the butterfly and moth species dependent on it.